


I Think I Always Knew

by Sparrow (hersilentlanguage)



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: (they'll figure it out one day), Cinnamon Roll Carlos de Vil, Drunkenness, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Plot Twist, M/M, Minor Angst, Mutual Pining, OTP Feels, Party, Unresolved Romantic Tension, protective!Jay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hersilentlanguage/pseuds/Sparrow
Summary: Carlos was quiet at parties like these, usually tagging along because Jay asked him to—though that wasn’t to say he’d be glued to him the whole night. He’d wander off to pet the host’s dog or gobble down some brownies and, once in a while, if the beat was right, Jay might even find him dancing—That’s why Jay hadn’t worried when he saw Carlos had vanished.
Relationships: Jay & Audrey Rose (minor), Jay/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51





	I Think I Always Knew

**Author's Note:**

  * For [telli1206](https://archiveofourown.org/users/telli1206/gifts).



> This started out as a prompt fill to deal with writer's block, but I got really into the mood of it and since I wanted to give @telli1206 a birthday gift, even if it's a couple weeks belated at this point, I decided to flesh my drabble out into a proper oneshot, so here we are! Happy birthday, Telli! You're an angel and I really hope you enjoy this tropey little slice of OTP pie. ;) Much love. <3
> 
>  **CW:** Misleading start (exact details in the end notes due to spoilers), drunken character, and swearing.

Carlos was quiet at parties like these, usually tagging along because Jay asked him to—though that wasn’t to say he’d be glued to him the whole night. He’d wander off to pet the host’s dog or gobble up some brownies and, once in a while, if the beat was right, Jay would find him dancing—

That’s why Jay hadn’t worried when he saw Carlos had vanished.

He’d sought him out casually, still working the scene—greeting Lonnie and Jane, bumping shoulders with Herkie, bowing prince-like to Jordan. “Hey,” he’d started, wandering into the kitchen. “You seen Carlos in here? Kinda short, got curly hair and freckles—no?” He’d asked again in the living room—

“What, you lost your date?” snarked a stranger with a leering grin. “Or is it maybe he lost _you_ …?”

Jay was frowning, about to respond when Audrey walked up beside him with her hands on her hips.

“God, Al, he’s not going to fuck you,” she snapped; then, turning to Jay, she added curtly, “Upstairs.”

When he just stared at her, she rolled her eyes and gestured dramatically to the ceiling. “Up _stairs?”_ she repeated, jutting her chin out. “Heard he went up there with some friend of his, I don’t know.”

“Oh—thanks,” Jay replied, sounding distracted. He was already backing away, his eyes on the exit.

Once through the door, he pushed past several people in the hallway, half-tripped over the pile of shoes in the entrance, and began to climb the stairs with a guilty sort of sickness in his gut, like—

_Maybe he was just jealous, about to ruin something good for Carlos…_

That made him pause on the upper landing; but then, he shook his head to clear the thought.

“Not jealous,” he muttered, eyes narrowing as he studied the doors around him—all closed, one dark, two with lights on, showing through the cracks. Quiet, mostly, but for the faint sound of a water drip from what must have been the bathroom. Seemed to be occupied? So, that left…

“Cee?” Jay whispered, twisting open the knob of what he took for a guest room. “You in here?”

Something clattered off the nightstand as Carlos sat up clumsily on the bed, feet kicking out as he struggled to perch on the edge of the mattress, swaying noticeably from side to side. His hair was mussed and his jacket was half-fallen off his shoulders, but he seemed otherwise alright and in a rather good mood. “Jayyyy,” he greeted cheerfully, patting the bed beside him. “This real soft…”

Nodding slowly, Jay stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, clicking the lock. “Carlos, are you…” He trailed off when he saw the cup on the floor, red and damning. “Fuck,” he muttered.

“Want juice?” asked Carlos, bending to grab the cup and nearly crumpling off the bed in the process.

Jay caught him before he could smack his head on the nightstand, then pushed him gently back to where he’d been sitting before. “Alright, who the—no, you _stay,_ ” he ordered, seeing Carlos about to try for the empty cup again. Huffing a breath, Jay dropped to his knees and set his hands on either side of Carlos to lock him in. He stared up into glassy, red-veined eyes with a soft frown, hands fisting in the blankets as he tried again to ask, “Who the hell brought you up here?”

Carlos blinked at him, then answered simply, “Mittens.”

“What?”

 _“Who,_ ” Carlos corrected, wrinkling his nose up. “You scareddd her…”

At that, he gestured vaguely to the closet door, near the foot of the bed, and when Jay followed his gaze to the cracked-open panels, he caught a glimpse of green eyes staring out from the shadows.

 _Of-fucking-course,_ Jay thought drily, though not without relief. He hung his head to mask a silent laugh, briefly closing his eyes as he thought back on Audrey’s words— _Some friend of his, indeed._

 _Clearly not the friend who’d spiked the punch, but hey—one less mystery, one less person to kill._

When Jay raised his head, he found Carlos was staring, head cocked slightly to the side, seeming pensive. He gave a lazy smile when their eyes met, then reached to cup Jay’s cheeks in his sweaty hands, gently patting as he murmured, almost more to himself than Jay, “Hmm, pretty…”

“Who, me or Mittens?” Jay asked jokingly, catching a glimpse of the cat leaning out from the closet.

 _“You.”_ Carlos frowned, his stare intense on Jay. _“You’re_ prettiest…” He ran a thumb over Jay’s bottom lip, pulling down to expose his teeth. _“Youuuu,”_ he drawled emphatically, patting Jay’s cheek again.

Jay sighed fondly, pulling back just enough that he could speak without Carlos’ fingers in his mouth. “Listen, _you_ —” He poked at Carlos’ chest, causing him to giggle and sway back on the bed. “—are clearly drunk.” (Carlos shook his head.) “Yes, you are. No lying in Auradon,” Jay added teasingly.

“Not _lying,”_ Carlos responded with a huff, brow crinkling as he grabbed at Jay’s sweater. “Not bad.”

“Didn’t say you were bad.” Jay reached up to comb back Carlos’ curls, allowing the light to shine more fully on his flushed and freckled cheeks. He could feel the heat on his skin like a fever, and when Carlos tipped forward as if to kiss him, the smell of liquor on his lips was all too apparent.

Turning his head to avoid the temptation, Jay slipped his arms under Carlos’ own, encircling his waist and scooting him forward off the bed as he, himself, tried to stand. “C’mon,” he murmured, encouraging Carlos onto his feet. “We’ll talk about it later. Let’s just get you out of here, okay…?”

“Why?” asked Carlos, yawning around the word. “You’re here.” He slumped in Jay’s hold, leaning back toward the bed so that Jay almost stumbled in his effort to keep them upright. “Good here….”

Jay shook his head. “Nope, not good here,” he insisted, struggling to hoist Carlos up into a fireman’s carry. With a half-grunt, half-chuckle, he remarked, “Evil—you’re actually heavy, you know that?”

Humming, Carlos rolled his neck around to rest his face in the crook of Jay’s shoulder, otherwise content to lay as Jay arranged him. “Feel heavy,” he sighed in agreement, breath hot on Jay’s skin.

“Too much juice,” Jay muttered, fumbling to open the door without dropping Carlos. “No more.”

“No more,” came the sleepy agreement as the door creaked open enough for Jay to hook his foot around it. “Tasted funny… like Isle stuff.” Carlos made a face as he said that—not something Jay could see, but something he could plainly feel from the way Carlos was burrowing into his neck.

“Why’d you drink it, then?” Jay asked quietly, manoeuvring toward the edge of the landing.

Carlos was silent for several seconds, but as Jay began to descend the stairs, he whispered, “Dunno.”

“Mm,” Jay replied, focusing on the steps. “Kinda sounds like you do,” he added after a moment, his tone not unkind but still accusing. He didn’t actually need Carlos to admit that he knew—he knew the punch had been spiked, might have even seen it happening. He’d thrown a few back, anyway.

The question was _why._

Why, when he’d told Jay he wouldn’t. Didn’t want to. Didn’t like it.

“M’boring,” Carlos mumbled as Jay was setting him down. “Bad at parties… just like pets.”

Jay paused, considering, then leaned in to ruffle Carlos’ hair as he stepped back from the chair he’d sat him in. “I don’t think you’re boring,” he responded with a small smile. “You’re bad at parties, I’m bad at math. Who cares, right?” He turned away for a moment, glancing around to find their shoes.

Carlos’ distinctive sneakers—one black and one red—had been kicked apart to opposite sides of the entrance hall, while Jay’s black boots were buried beneath a mound of high heels. He slipped them on and tightened the laces before returning to Carlos, kneeling in front of him without a thought—

“Thanks,” Carlos said quietly as Jay was tugging at the last knot.

Jay looked up and caught his eye with that same small smile as before. “Yeah…” He wavered, about to offer his hand. “You, uh, want to try walking, or...” He took a half-step back when Carlos nodded.

_Bad idea._

“Whoa!” Jay exclaimed, stumbling forward to catch Carlos as his knees gave out. “Careful, pup…”

“They’re broken,” Carlos grumbled tiredly, frowning down at his feet. “Stupid juice bones.”

Chuckling, Jay pulled Carlos in against his chest without a thought for the party still thriving around them. The entrance hall was quiet and, in that moment, at least, it felt for all the world like there was no one else but him and Carlos. He might have kissed him then and there, just because he _could’ve—_

Instead, he guided Carlos’ hands to his shoulders and hoisted him up. “Guess you can’t get away.”

“Wha’…?” Carlos asked through a yawn, leaning his head against Jay’s and blinking blearily.

“Nothing, I’m just stealing you,” Jay teased as he grabbed for the door knob.

 _“Hmph,”_ was all Carlos replied, but Jay could hear the smile in that.

**Author's Note:**

>  **CW (ft. spoilers):** The misleading start may give the impression of a date rape scenario unfolding (in other words, Jay is initially under the impression that someone has taken Carlos upstairs, away from the party, and spiked his drink). This is not what _actually_ happens in the plot, but if the implication is potentially triggering for you, I'd suggest taking a pass on this fic.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated! I'd love to hear your thoughts, but no pressure. <3


End file.
